[导读] 《魔法师的外甥》(The Magician's Nephew )，英国作家C.S.路易斯，于1950年代所著《纳尼亚传奇》系列奇幻儿童文学小说第一部。
About a week after this it was quite certain that Digory's Mother was getting better.About a fortnight later she was able to sit out in the garden.And a month later that whole house had become a different place.Aunt Letty did everything that Mother liked: windows were opened，frowsy curtains were drawn back to brighten up the rooms，there were new flowers everywhere，and nicer things to eat，and the old piano was tuned and Mother took up her singing again，and had such games with Digory and Polly that Aunt Letty would say “I declare，Mabel，you're the biggest baby of the three.”
When things go wrong，you'll find they usually go on getting worse for some time; but when things once start going right they often go on getting better and better.After about six weeks of this lovely life there came a long letter from Father in India，which had wonderful news in it.Old GreatUncle Kirke had died and this meant，apparently，that Father was now very rich.He was going to retire and come home from India forever and ever.And the great big house in the country，which Digory had heard of all his life and never seen would now be their home; the big house with the suits of armour，the stables，the kennels，the river，the park，the hothouses，the vineries，the woods，and the mountains behind it.So that Digory felt just as sure as you that they were all going to live happily ever after.But perhaps you would like to know just one or two things more.
Polly and Digory were always great friends and she came nearly every holidays to stay with them at their beautiful house in the country; and that was where she learned to ride and swim and milk and bake and climb.
In Narnia the Beasts lived in great peace and joy and neither the Witch nor any other enemy came to trouble that pleasant land for many hundred years.King Frank and Queen Helen and their children lived happily in Narnia and their second son became King of Archenland.The boys married nymphs and the girls married woodgods and rivergods.The lamppost which the Witch had planted (without knowing it) shone day and night in the Narnian forest，so that the place where it grew came to be called Lantern Waste; and when，many years later，another child from our world got into Narnia，on a snowy night，she found the light still burning.And that adventure was，in a way，connected with the ones I have just been telling you.
It was like this.The tree which sprang from the Apple that Digory planted in the back garden，lived and grew into a fine tree.Growing in the soil of our world，far out of the sound of Aslan's voice and far from the young air of Narnia，it did not bear apples that would revive a dying woman as Digory's Mother had been revived，though it did bear apples more beautiful than any others in England，and they were extremely good for you，though not fully magical.But inside itself，in the very sap of it，the tree (so to speak) never forgot that other tree in Narnia to which it belonged.Sometimes it would move mysteriously when there was no wind blowing：I think that when this happened there were high winds in Narnia and the English tree quivered because，at that moment，the Narnia tree was rocking and swaying in a strong southwestern gale.However，that might be，it was proved later that there was still magic in its wood.For when Digory was quite middleaged (and he was a famous learned man，a professor，and a great traveller by that time) and the Ketterleys' old house belonged to him，there was a great storm all over the south of England which blew the tree down.He couldn't bear to have it simply chopped up for firewood，so he had part of the timber made into a wardrobe，which he put in his big house in the country.And though he himself did not discover the magic properties of that wardrobe，someone else did.That was the beginning of all the comings and goings between Narnia and our world，which you can read of in other books.
When Digory and his people went to live in the big country house，they took Uncle Andrew to live with them; for Digory's Father said，“We must try to keep the old fellow out of mischief，and it isn't fair that poor Letty should have him always on her hands.” Uncle Andrew never tried any Magic again as long as he lived.He had learned his lesson，and in his old age he became a nicer and less selfish old man than he had ever been before.But he always liked to get visitors alone in the billiardroom and tell them stories about a mysterious lady，a foreign royalty，with whom he had driven about London.“A devilish temper she had，” he would say.“But she was a dem fine woman，sir，a dem fine woman.”
大约一周以后，迪格雷的妈妈明显越来越好。两周后，她便能坐在花园里了。过了一个月，整幢房子都变了样。凡是妈妈喜欢的事蕾蒂姨妈都做了：窗户打开了，脏窗帘拉开后房间里一片明亮，到处都有新采的鲜花和很好吃的东西。旧钢琴调好音后，妈妈又开始了歌唱，而且和迪格雷以及波莉在一起玩耍，连蕾蒂姨妈都说：“我敢说，玛贝尔，你是三个孩子中最大的一个。”
当事情不顺心时，你会发现在一段时间里会越变越糟，但当事情一旦开始好转，又常常是越来越好。这种好日子大约过了六周之后，在印度的爸爸写来一封长长的信，里面有很多惊人的好消息。老叔祖父柯克去世了，这当然意味着爸爸现在非常富有。他即将从印度退休回家，再也不走了。迪格雷一生下来就听说过但从未见过的那幢乡下大房子现在成了他们的家。大房子里有几套盔甲，有马厩、养狗场，有河流、公园、暖房、葡萄园和树林，后面还有山。所以，迪格雷和你们一样，十分肯定地认为他们今后将过上幸福生活。但也许你想知道另外一两件事情。
波莉和迪格雷一直是非常要好的朋友，几乎每个假期她都到乡下去，和他们一起住在那幢漂亮的房子里：她在那儿学会了骑马、游泳、挤奶、烤面包和爬山。
在纳尼亚，动物们非常快乐地生活在和平之中，几百年里，女巫和其他任何敌人都没来骚扰那片乐土。弗兰克国王与海伦王后以及他们的孩子也非常幸福地生活在纳尼亚。他们的第二个儿子当了阿钦兰的国王。儿子们娶了仙女，女儿们嫁了河神与树神。女巫栽下(她自己并不知道)的路灯柱日夜照耀在纳尼亚的森林里，它长大的那片地方被叫作灯柱野林。很多年后，另一个孩子在一个下雪的夜晚，从我们的世界走进纳尼亚，发现那盏灯依然亮着。那次历险在某种意义上与我刚刚告诉你们的故事紧密相联。
事情是这样的。迪格雷埋在后花园里的苹果核长成了一棵美丽的树。因为长在我们这个世界的土壤里，远离阿斯兰的声音和纳尼亚年轻的空气，虽然它的果实比英格兰其他所有苹果都要漂亮得多，而且对你极有益处，但却没有十足的魔力，也不会再像救活迪格雷的妈妈一样使一个垂死的妇女恢复生机。但是，就这棵果树的内在性质而言，在它的汁液之中，这棵树(就这样称它吧)仍然没有忘记它所属的在纳尼亚的那棵树。有时没有刮风，它也会神秘地摇动。我想，这个时候纳尼亚一定在刮大风；在英格兰的这棵树之所以战栗，是因为纳尼亚的母树在强劲的西南风中摇摆晃动。然而，以后证明了，这棵树的木材中仍然存在着魔法。当迪格雷到了中年(那时，他成了著名的学者、教授和大旅行家)，凯特利家的老房子也归他所有，英格兰南部的一场风暴吹倒了那棵树。他不忍心让人把它当柴烧了，便用一部分木料做了一个大衣柜，放在他乡下的大房子里。他自己虽然没有发现那衣柜的魔力，另一个人却发现了。那就是我们的世界和纳尼亚之间所有故事的开端，你可以在其他书里读到。
当迪格雷和他的家人搬往乡下的大房子时，他们把安德鲁舅舅带了过去，与他们一起生活；因为迪格雷的爸爸说：“我们必须阻止这老家伙再捣乱，可怜的蕾蒂始终要照看他，太不公平。”安德鲁舅舅此后再也没有试过任何魔法。他吸取了教训，到了晚年，不再像从前那么自私，变得比较可爱。但他总是喜欢在弹子房里单独会客，给他们讲一个神秘的外国王族女人的故事，说他曾经和她一起驾着马车在伦敦街上兜风。“她脾气很坏，”他爱说，“可她是一个漂亮的贵妇人，先生，一个漂亮的贵妇人。”
